Happy Poetry Friday!
Roundup is at
Hip Writer Mama.
This week, I'm starting a new contest, one that I think everyone will find easy, fun and interesting. Yes, yes, we're putting the last contest down to my poor combination of medication. Sigh....
This contest theme: High Culture meets Pop CultureSo I was driving home from work the other night, and for some reason suddenly found myself thinking of Rodney Dangerfield reciting "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" in the movie
Back to School.
Which led me to remember Charles Bronson in the movie
Telefon, and that scene in the phone booth where the classic lines from Robert Frost are quoted:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep
but I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep,
and miles to go before I sleep.
What a lovely way to be brainwashed.
And then I thought of one of my favorite scenes from
Porky's II (a movie that made me giggle so much I almost wet myself), where Pee Wee plays Shakespeare's Robin in the school play and gives the closing speech from "A Midsummer Night's Dream." This scene coming right on the heels of the outrageous sex and vomit sting scene was a fabulous juxtaposition. What's remarkable to me is that it was because of
Porky's II that I fell in love with this little bit of Shakespeare. How many of you can say that? How many would admit to it?
Now the hungry lion roars,
And the wolf behowls the moon,
Whilst the heavy plowman snores,
All with weary task fordone.
Now the wasted brands do glow,
Whilst the screech-owl, screeching loud,
Puts the wretch that lies in woe
In remembrance of a shroud.
Now it is the time of night
That the graves, all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his sprite
In the church-way paths to glide.
And we fairies, that do run
By the triple Hecate's team
From the presence of the sun,
Following darkness like a dream,
Now are frolic. Not a mouse
Shall disturb this hallowed house.
I am sent with broom before,
To sweep the dust behind the door.
And so back to the contest....Here is your mission, if you want to play:
Submit your comments here with examples of TV shows, popular songs, or movies that used references or quotes from famous poets or authors in a way that may have caught people by surprise. Caught by surprise? I mean, don't include the movie
Sense and Sensibility, where half of it was quotes from poetry because two of the characters sat around and read each other poetry throughout. Don't include
Shakespeare in Love or
Hamlet, where of course there will be a lot of, um, Shakespeare.
Give me movies like
Porky's II, or songs like Dire Straits "Romeo and Juliet." Better yet, give me quotes from
The Simpsons. Any extra explanation you can include, similar to mine above about
Porky's II, will gain you extra points.
You also get extra points for posting about this contest on your blog.
Deadline: October 12Prizes: Good. I'll randomly draw 4 winners and I'll send them gift cards worth real money ($10 to 25).Enjoyment factor: 10Oh, and I'll create a post of all the submissions. Please include links to videos, or pictures, if you can, because that will make the post more fun.
